Stocks waver on Syria, jobs news
U.S. stocks never got going Friday after a slightly disappointing jobs report and word of U.S. missile strikes against Syria. Investors bought shares of defense contractors and stocks that are traditionally considered safe.
Stocks moved between gains and losses in the hours after the Labor Department said employers didn’t add as many jobs as analysts forecast. They climbed later in the day, but the gains didn’t last. High-dividend stocks such as real estate investment trusts and household goods makers rose; banks and energy companies fell.
Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said he was not surprised that the stock market did not have an overwhelming reaction to the jobs report or missile strikes because neither really altered investors’ views of the U.S. economy.
Wren said the economy probably won’t grow much faster over the next few years because the Federal Reserve plans to keep raising interest rates, which makes borrowing more expensive.
Although stocks didn’t move much overall, there were a few clear trends. Investors mostly avoided industries whose performance is closely linked to the state of the economy.
The VIX, known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” started rising late Thursday as the U.S. government shifted its policy on Syria.
Early on Friday, gold jumped to its highest price since right after November’s presidential election, and bond prices climbed. But that didn’t last long, and bond prices turned lower late in the day. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.38% from 2.34%.
The increased geopolitical uncertainty pushed up defense stocks. Raytheon rose 1.5% to $152.96 and Lockheed Martin rose 1.2% to $270.23.
Among high-dividend stocks, Wal-Mart climbed 2.1% to $72.90 and Prologis rose 1% to $53.58.
The military strike in Syria lifted crude oil prices. U.S. oil rose 54 cents, or 1%, to $52.24 a barrel. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, rose 35 cents to $55.24 a barrel.
21st Century Fox declined for the fifth day in a row as advertisers continued to pull their ads from “The O’Reilly Factor.” Last weekend, the New York Times reported that Fox News and Bill O’Reilly, the network’s most popular prime-time host, have paid $13 million to five women to settle allegations of sexual and other misconduct. Kantar Media says the show brought in more than $100 million in advertising revenue in 2016. The stock fell 5 cents to $31.07 on Friday; it’s down 4.1% this week.
Gold finished up $4 at $1,257.30. Silver slid 10 cents to $18.15 an ounce. Copper fell 1 cent to $2.65 a pound.
Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to $1.75 a gallon. Heating oil gained 2 cents to $1.63 a gallon. Natural gas slid 7 cents, or 2.1%, to $3.26 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The dollar fell to 111.15 yen from 110.78 yen. The euro fell to $1.0588 from $1.0646.